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Treasure 96: Aberdeen Intelligencer
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Treasure 96: Aberdeen Intelligencer

Historic Documents
Léa Moreau
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Treasure 96: Aberdeen Intelligencer
Historic Documents
315
Treasure 96: Aberdeen Intelligencer
There are currently two daily newspapers in Aberdeen - "The Press and Journal" and "Evening Express". The Evening Express first appeared in January 1879 but The Press and Journal has a much longer history, being first published in January 1748 as the Aberdeen Journal - notable as the first newspaper to be published in northern Scotland.

Its editor was James Chalmers, son of the Rev. James Chalmers, Professor of Divinity at Marischal College. Over the years there have been several rivals to the Journal's initial monopoly but the earliest was first published on 3rd October 1752 by Francis Douglas and William Murray. Their paper was The Aberdeen Intelligencer and it was supportive of the Jacobite cause whereas the Journal had Whig sympathies. The earliest original issue of the Aberdeen Journal held in our Local Collections is for 1758, but microfilm copies of the Journal from 1748 onwards are available for consultation in the Information Centre. The Journal notes the forthcoming appearance of its rival in an advert in 1752 and subsequent notices give some idea of the contest between the two papers which ended in 1757 when there appears to have been an agreement that Douglas and Murray should gain an interest in the Journal while ceasing to publish their own newspaper. The last issue appeared on 22 February 1757.

Find out more about the rivalry between the two newspapers, and how it was overcome; in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreens.
Newspaper
TR13_20
Aberdeen Local Studies
Yes